A significant portion of the decline in unemployment, however, is because many Californians have given up looking for work. Labor force participation in October was barely 62 percent, below the historic low in 1976. For those not around way back then, those were the dark years of “stagflation” – the triple whammy of slow economic growth, high unemployment and rising prices.

Another worrisome trend is a noticeable shift in the kinds of jobs that are available, as some industries shrink and others grow. While California has added 2.1 million jobs since 2010, employment in six industries is still below 2007 levels, before the Great Recession, according to the center’s analysis. Those sectors – including construction, finance and manufacturing – generally pay more than the service-type jobs that we’re adding in droves.

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This change is partly behind the growing gap between coastal California, where high-paying tech jobs are concentrating, and inland California, where six metro areas have among the 10 highest unemployment rates in the nation.

He argues that a strong middle class isn’t only the result of a strong economy, but rather a cause. Madland also says that a thriving middle class isn’t just necessary for a fair economy, but also for a functioning democracy and society. It builds the trust that is essential to do business; leads to a less corrupt government that doesn’t just cater to the wealthy; creates a stable and growing base of consumer demand that creates jobs; and gives opportunity to the children of the poor and working class.

But now, he says, America’s middle class is so weakened that we’re having problems more like a developing nation. “An economy that works only for the rich, simply doesn’t work,” he writes. “To have strong and sustainable growth, the economy needs to work for everyone.”

According to the numbers, that isn’t happening in California despite all the new jobs. As I said, dark clouds on the horizon.

By the numbers

California industries with the biggest changes in the number of jobs between 2007 and October 2015, and the average annual wage:

About This Blog

Foon Rhee, an associate editor, joined the The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board in February 2010 after reporting and editing for newspapers in Massachusetts and North Carolina and keeping his opinions to himself. He graduated from Duke and went to graduate school during a fellowship at the University of Hawaii. Foon Rhee can be reached at frhee@sacbee.com or 916-321-1913. Twitter: @foonrhee.